♦ Hurun India released 2024 GROHE-Hurun India Real Estate 100 report on 11 July 2024. It provides a comprehensive view of India's real estate landscape, detailing the individuals and companies leading in wealth and valuation as of May 31, 2024.
♦ Chairman of DLF Rajiv Singh emerges at the top spot with a wealth of Rs.1,24,420 crore. Mangal Prabhat Lodha, founder of Macrotech Developers secured second rank with a significant Rs.91,700 crore.
♦ Gautam Adani of Adani Realty claims the third spot with Rs 56,500 crore.
Posted Date: July 11, 2024Economy
♦ Markets regulator SEBI launched a chatbot named ‘SEVA’ for investors on 29 July 2024. SEVA is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based conversation platform. The chatbot is presently enabled to answer questions relating to general information on the securities market, the latest master circulars, grievance redressal process, etc.
♦ The Beta version of chatbot SEVA (Sebi’s Virtual Assistant) includes features like citations for generated responses, speech-to-text and text-to-speech functionality for accessibility, and follow-up questions, among others.
♦ Chatbot: A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate human conversation through text or voice interactions. Think of it as a virtual assistant that can understand and respond to your questions, requests, or commands.
♦ Rapido has joined the unicorn club after raising around $120 million (Rs.1,000 crore) in its latest Series E funding round led by its existing investor WestBridge Capital.
♦ A unicorn means a privately owned startup valued at over $1 billion. Rapido closely competes with players like Ola, Uber and Namma Yatri.
♦ Rapido was founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli and Rishikesh SR.
♦ Rapido is the third to become a unicorn this year (2024) after Perfios and Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s Krutrim AI turned unicorns earlier. In 2023, there were only two new unicorns - Zepto and InCred Wealth.
♦ The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released its report on Currency and Finance (RCF) for the year 2023-24 on 29 July 2024. The report titled "India's Digital Revolution".
Highlights:
♦ The report noted that the average cost of data breaches in India has risen to $2.18 million in 2023, a 28% increase since 2020.
♦ Globally, the cost of cybercrime is expected to reach $13.82 trillion by 2028, up from $8.15 trillion in 2023.
♦ The Aadhaar system has facilitated over 116 billion authentications and 20 billion electronic-know-your-customer (e-KYC) verifications, since 2014.
♦ Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs) have streamlined the distribution of subsidies, transferring Rs 6.9 lakh crore for 315 schemes to 176 crore beneficiaries in 2023-24.
♦ The UPI system has witnessed a dramatic rise in transaction volume, from 12.5 billion transactions in 2019-20 to 131 billion transactions in 2023-24, accounting for 80 percent of all digital payment volumes.
♦ n June 2024 alone, the UPI recorded nearly 14 billion transactions, supported by 424 million unique users.
♦ Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 in Lok Sabha on 23 July 2024. This is her seventh consecutive budget and eclipsing the late Moraji Desai’s record of six consecutive budgets. The government is estimated to spend Rs.48,20,512 crore in 2024-25, 8.5% higher than the actual expenditure in 2023-24. Total capital expenditure was projected to be Rs.11,11,111 crore, fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs.16,13,312 crore, revenue receipts are estimated at Rs.31,29,200 crore, while the net tax revenue to the Centre is projected to be Rs.25,83,499 crore.
♦ Highlights & Sector wise allocations:
♦ The budget highlights nine core priorities of the government - Agriculture, Employment, Social Justice, Manufacturing and Services, Urban Development, Energy Security, Innovation, Research and Development, Next-Generation Reforms.
♦ The Union Government had Rs.1247211.28 crores of Union taxes and duties to distribute to the states. In statement showing the state-wise distribution of net proceeds of Union Taxes and Duties for Budget Estimates 2024-25, Uttar Pradesh receives the highest share at around 18% with Rs.223737.23 crores.
♦ Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs1.52 lakh crore to the agriculture sector.
♦ The government allocated an outlay of Rs.6,21,940.85 crore for defence for FY25, which is the highest among all the Union ministries.
Department wise allocations | In Rs. crores |
---|---|
Ministry of Defence | :Rs.621940.85 |
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways | : Rs.278000 |
Ministry of Railways | : Rs.255393 |
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | :Rs.223323.36 |
Ministry of Home Affairs | :Rs.219643.31 |
Ministry of Rural Development | :Rs.180233.43 |
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers | :Rs.168499.87 |
Ministry of Communications | : Rs.137293.9 |
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare | :Rs.132469.86 |
Ministry of Education | :Rs.120627.87 |
Ministry of Jal Shakti | : Rs.98713.78 |
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare | : Rs.90958.63 |
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs | : Rs.82576.57 |
Ministry of Women and Child Development | : Rs.26092.19 |
Department of Atomic Energy | : Rs.24968.98 |
Ministry of Labour and Employment | : Rs.22531.47 |
Ministry of External Affairs | : Rs.22154.67 |
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises | : Rs.22137.95 |
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology | : Rs.21936.9 |
Ministry of Power | : Rs.20502 |
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy | : Rs.19100 |
Ministry of Science and Technology | : Rs.16628.12 |
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas | : Rs.15930.26 |
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment | : Rs.14225.47 |
Department of Space | : Rs.13042.75 |
Ministry of Tribal Affairs | : Rs.13000 |
Ministry of Commerce and Industry | : Rs.11469.14 |
Ministry of Heavy Industries | : Rs.7242 |
Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying | : Rs.7137.68 |
Ministry of Law and Justice | : Rs.6788.33 |
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region | : Rs.5900 |
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation | : Rs.5453.83 |
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship | : Rs.4520 |
Ministry of Textiles | : Rs.4417.03 |
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting | : Rs.4342.55 |
Ministry of Ayush | : Rs.3712.49 |
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports | : Rs.3442.32 |
Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change | : Rs.3330.37 |
Ministry of Food Processing Industries | : Rs.3290 |
Ministry of Culture | : Rs.3260.93 |
Ministry of Minority Affairs | : Rs.3183.24 |
Ministry of Earth Sciences | : Rs.3064.8 |
Ministry of Corporate Affairs | : Rs.2667.06 |
Ministry of Tourism | : Rs.2479.62 |
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions | : Rs.2379.87 |
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways | : Rs.2377.49 |
Ministry of Civil Aviation | : Rs.2357.14 |
Ministry of Mines | : Rs.1941.06 |
The President, Parliament, Union Public Service Commission and the Secretariat of the Vice President | : Rs.1884.92 |
Ministry of Panchayati Raj | : Rs.1183.64 |
Ministry of Cooperation | : Rs.1183.39 |
Ministry of Planning | : Rs.837.26 |
Ministry of Steel | : Rs.325.66 |
Ministry of Coal | : Rs.192.55 |
Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs | : Rs.64 |
Posted Date: July 24, 2024
♦ Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2023-24 in Parliament on 22 July 2024. The survey projects the FY25 real GDP growth at 6.5-7%.
♦ It reveals that India’s workforce of nearly 56.5 crores is distributed across several sectors: over 45% in agriculture, 11.4% in manufacturing, 28.9% in services, and 13% in construction.
♦ The survey highlighted a significant rise in female labour force participation over the past six years. The participation rate increased from 23.3 percent in 2017-18 to 37 percent in 2022-23, driven primarily by the growing participation of rural women. Additionally, the unemployment rate has been declining, dropping to 3.2 percent in 2022-23.
♦ Highlights:
♦ Job Creation: India needs to generate approximately 7.85 million jobs annually in the non-farm sector until 2030 to accommodate its growing workforce.
♦ Inflation Management: Retail inflation decreased to 5.4 percent in FY24, down from 6.7 percent in FY23, due to effective policy responses amidst both global and domestic challenges.
♦ Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): FDI remained resilient, despite a slight decline in new capital inflows to USD 45.8 billion in FY24 from USD 47.6 billion in FY23, reflecting broader global economic trends.
♦ Sectoral Growth: The services sector grew by 7.6 percent in FY24, while the agriculture sector expanded by 4.18 percent over the past five years.
♦ The first economic survey reportedly came into existence in 1950-51, when it used to be a part of the budget documents. In the 1960s, it was separated from the Budget documents and presented the day before the Union Budget.
Posted Date: July 23, 2024
♦ The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $240.5 million in loans to finance rooftop solar systems in India that will help the government expand energy access using renewable energy. The financing will support tranches 2 and 3 of the Multitranche Financing Facility (MFF) Solar Rooftop Investment Program approved by ADB in 2016. The program was restructured in 2023 to focus on deploying residential solar rooftop systems.
♦ The financing will be made available to the State Bank of India (SBI) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to provide loans to developers and end-users throughout India to install rooftop solar systems. ADB will provide SBI $90.5 million from its Clean Technology Fund (CTF) while NABARD will receive $150 million—comprised of $80 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and $70 million from CTF.
Posted Date: July 19, 2024♦ The Asian Development Bank (ADB) projected India's GDP growth forecast at 7 percent for the current financial year 2024-25. For the financial year 2025-26, ADB has pegged India’s GDP growth at 7.2 percent.
♦ The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also revised upward its GDP growth projections for India to 7 percent compared to 6.8 percent projected in April, 2024.
♦ In 2024, June, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revised upward its growth forecast to 7.2 percent, from 7 percent estimated earlier.
Posted Date: July 18, 2024♦ The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised India’s growth projections for 2024 from 6.8 percent earlier to 7 percent in its latest outlook.
♦ The IMF had earlier projected growth rate of 6.5 percent for 2024, revising it to 6.8 percent and now 7 percent.
♦ For the year 2025, the IMF projected India’s growth rate at 6.5 percent.
♦ According to official data of the Indian government, the country’s GDP grew at an impressive 8.2 percent during the financial year 2023-24, and it continued to remain the fastest-growing major economy. India’s economy grew 7.2 percent in 2022-23 and 8.7 percent in 2021-22 respectively.
Posted Date: July 17, 2024♦ According to a RBI report, India's employment growth rate stood at 6 percent in that 2023-24 fiscal year. India provisionally created 46.7 million jobs in the financial year ended March 2024. India's total employment surged to 643.3 million in 2023-24, up from 596.7 million in FY23.
Posted Date: July 8, 2024♦ India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $170 million policy-based loan to enhance India’s preparedness and response capacity for future pandemics. The agreement, part of the ‘Strengthened and Measurable Actions for Resilient and Transformative Health Systems Programme was signed by Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Indian government, and Mio Oka, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission.
♦ The programme aims to enhance disease surveillance systems by establishing laboratory networks for infectious disease surveillance at various levels and building robust data systems to monitor and coordinate national health programmes for vulnerable groups. It will also improve the governance of India’s One Health approach and its multisector response to emerging infectious diseases.
Posted Date: July 3, 2024